Anxiety
by GreatLordofPie
Summary: When Joy willingly steps to the sidelines following Riley being rejected by the boy she loves, Fear takes matters into his own hands. Will his protective measures go too far?


**A/N. I forgot to do this initially, as well as some minor formatting issues, so here's the actual finalized version. Other than that, if you want to review, please say what's on your mind, because I won't have it censored under any circumstance. _Inside Out,_ and all affiliated characters and symbols belong to their respective owners, and not me. Please enjoy!**

* * *

"I- Riley, it's just that. It just would never work out. I'm sorry."

All five emotions were in complete shock at what had just transpired. Sadness was the first to break from the stupor, and with a guttural, utterly hopeless sob, lunged into the control panel.

Riley felt her breaths shortening as her chest was crushed by those last, horrendous words, and without thinking turned around and ran. To where, it didn't matter. It just had to be away from there.

Fear was the next to snap out of the spell that held the others

"You see that?" He shrieked. "I'm not the one to normally say 'ooh, I told you so', but look at this!"

Disgust and Anger had made their way over to the Panel to try and help console Sadness/Riley. Fear was now looking directly at the burned out star, still slouching slack jawed with her arms limp at her sides.

"I said that this was an awful idea." As he ranted on, his tone became more and more akin to a shorter, redder emotion's. "'Ooh, but the pros far outweigh the cons. Ooh, but we have this super duper duper plan.' Was getting rejected part of your master plan, Joy? Does crying in front of everyone in the middle of lunch break and spending the rest of the day crying in a bathroom stall constitute as a reasonable loss?"

The only response that little pixie could muster was a heartbroken, watery stare that would have made Sadness proud.

Fear almost faltered as those two, beautiful blue eyes pleaded, implored him to end his rage. Almost.

He stormed off to his room without another word. Though he tried not to show it, he was already regretting everything he had said. As that twinge nagged at him to go back and beg his friends to forgive him of his tantrum, another feeling began to rise in him, consuming and burning away the remorse, leaving only a sick satisfaction. Fear, for the first time, tasted power. He wasn't sure whether he enjoyed it, or feared it.

* * *

There she was. Quietly humming to herself as a storm of static raged on the screen in front of her. It was almost as if nothing had even happened today. Fear silently watched on from the balcony. The fire that raged inside him had seemingly died out, and all that remained was shame. But, in typical Fear fashion, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. What's the point? She must hate me now. She'll just ignore me. Deep in thought, went to lean on the railing. Much to his misfortune, there was no railing in the direction he leaned, only the ramp to the main floor. So, with a shriek, Fear tumbled down the spiral walkway. When his body flopped to a stop, he slowly looked up to see a pair of blue eyes looking back down with a mixture a worry and the smallest amount of amusement.

"Are you okay?" Joy reached out to the sprawled out nerve, who happily obliged. "That was... quite a tumble you had there." She laughed, reaching to scratch the back of her head as her purple counterpart began to realign his spine.

"Yeah, no kidding." Fear gave his back one last forward thrust, and he felt it crack back into place. Only when the pain subsided did he realize that speaking to Joy was now unavoidable. With a sigh and a deep breath, and channeling all the strength he had, he open his mouth. "Joy-"

"Hey, I'm a sorry about this morning."

Taken aback, Fear deflated. "What?"

She placed her hand on his shoulder and sat down cross-legged on the ramp, bringing him with her.

"I'm sorry about this morning." She avoided making contact with Fear's confused eyes. "You were right."

"I- I was?" Fear was more startled by what was going on than any of Anger's explosive punches. Joy was certainly, well positive, but she was certainly not particularly apologetic.

Joy chuckled sadly at Fear's confusion. "You did say that all of these bad things were sure to happen, but I was just blinded by the chance to make Riley so. Happy-" Joy began to cry again, and this time, fear didn't feel high and mighty. "B-but now, she, she's crushed, she's devastated, she's got an island dedicated to not having a boyfriend…" Joy trailed back off into sobs before slightly regaining her composure. Fear could do nothing but give her that worried, slightly sad look of his.

"You know, you'd think that after the Move, I'd have figured out that I need to listen to you guys, let you do your jobs." She gave another sad chuckle before looking back down. "But I guess I needed one more wake-up call to get it through my stupid. Stupid. Head!" She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her head in them; she barely gave off her signature warm-blue glow, the only illumination coming from the still dancing electrons of Riley's vision.

Fear could take no more. Gently placing a trembling hand on her shoulder, he tried to comfort her.

"Th-there, there…" You idiot, thats not comforting! "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

Even with his painfully awkward 'counseling', Joy lifted her head and her glow increased ever so slightly; even her sobs became softer and more controlled.

"Thanks Fear." She smiled a very genuine smile, and though her voice was still faltering slightly, her aura increased in its luminosity. "I know that this sort of thing isn't your forte, but I needed it." She got onto her tear-soaked knees and brought Fear into her warm embrace.

"N-no pruh-problem." Things were just getting weirder and weirder. What's next? Let me guess, she's going to relinquish command and-

Joy finally let go of her purple companion. "Fear, I've been thinking," She sniffed. "I've just felt so bad today, and don't get me wrong! You really did help me tonight." She smiled at him. "But, I need some...time to get over this. And so does Riley." She sighed, her body drooping slightly. "Can I trust you to be in charge for a bit while I … figure everything out?"

"But I was- You- Ahh- Ooh- Eyy, okay."

"Oh my gosh, Fear, you're the best!" Before the nerve could respond, Joy closed her eyes leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

Thump.

She looked down and saw Fear in a lump on the ground, wearing a smile that rivaled one of her own.


End file.
